BUSCH HAD BEST CAR BUT GETS HEARTBREAK IN AMD AT THE GLEN

-Miller Lite Dodge Driver Led Most Laps, But Controversial Ruling On Pit Stop Is Devastating- 

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Aug. 13, 2006)  --  Kurt Busch had his Miller Lite Dodge out front for more laps than any other driver in today’s AMD at the Glen and proved to all that he had a winning car.  But after a controversial ruling when he hit pit road on Lap 54 just as the sixth caution flag of the race flew, his bright day started unraveling.

            Busch started from the pole here today at Watkins Glen International and was looking to make his mark in the history books.  After claiming the top starting spot here on Friday for today’s race, he won the pole and the race here in yesterday’s NBS Zippo 200.  While there have been several drivers to sweep both races during a single weekend, never had there been a driver to win both poles and both races.

            When the day had concluded, the dejected Busch departed the track not knowing the decision by NASCAR as to his final finishing position.  There was so much uncertainty that prevailed because of a last lap mishap that team members and officials were still reviewing the scoring results long after 6:00 p.m. EDT, while Busch was on his flight back home.  It was a day when even Tony Stewart went out of his way to express sympathy for KB.

            Busch started his Miller Lite Dodge from the pole and had already led twice for a total of 39 laps when the final round of scheduled green flag pit stops began.  He held a 1.324 second lead on Stewart on Lap 53 and Stewart closed the gap when crew chief Roy McCauley made the call for KB to pit the next time around.

            Just as KB veered to the right and turned down the pit lane, the caution flag came out for a Joe Nemechek spin entering the carousel turn.  NASCAR officials ruled that Busch had not made it to the commitment line before the flag was displayed and the team was notified that they would have to restart at the tail end of the longest line.

            McCauley spent all of the caution laps arguing his case with the NASCAR officials to no avail.  When the cars got the green flag again working Lap 57, KB was second on the restart, but immediately stopped in Turn 1 to accept the penalty and fall to the very rear.  NASCAR officials then informed the No. 2 team that the black flag was being withdrawn and he would not have to make a stop-and-go visit to pit road.

            KB fell to 37th in the running order.  On the Lap 62 restart after a caution brought out by Matt Goosens’ crash, KB set sail, picking up seven spots.  But on the eighth caution of the race, he got caught up in a multi-car crash and was forced to the pits for repairs under the yellow.

            Refusing to give in, KB was 34th on the Lap 67 restart.  He had advanced to 25th on Lap 70 and was up to 18th on Lap 78, when the ninth yellow flag of the race was displayed for Casey Mears’ stalled car after a spin.

            Michael Waltrip brought out the final caution of the race when he spun in Turn 11 with eight laps remaining in the race.  The race went back to green with six laps remaining.  KB was 17th on that restart and had worked himself all the way back up to 11th when the white flag flew indicating one lap to go.

            The day’s major comeback was not to be, however, as he got caught up in multi-car incident involving Penske teammate Ryan Newman, Boris Said and Ron Fellows in the inner-loop.  KB was eventually credited with a 19th-place finish.  But several hours later, the finishing order was still being debated and readjusted.  It was uncertain as to whether he would be credited with a 19th or 20th-place finish.

            Up front, it was Kevin Harvick getting around Tony Stewart for the lead on Lap 87 and then holding off the defending NEXTEL Cup Series champ by 0.892 seconds in taking the win.  Jamie McMurray finished third, with Robby Gordon fourth and Carl Edwards fifth.

            “We put ourselves in position for NASCAR to make a call and it didn’t end up in our favor,” KB said while standing behind the team transporter after the race.  “That’s the bottom line. We’re going to stand here and discuss it, but it doesn’t do any good now because we’re 21st  or whatever they’re saying. We were 10th going into the last lap. There was a yellow back in the inner loop and we spun to avoid it, but they didn’t freeze the field like they did last week. Each week it’s a new call and when you put yourself in position for them to make a call they’re not going to make it. There was no missing the commitment line. I was on pit road when the green light was on when I made it.

            “There was a lot of disappointed Miller Lite fans,” KB said.  “I’m disappointed, but we’ll go in the truck and we’ll try to discuss it and see what we can do about it. It definitely was (our race to win), but we didn’t win today. That was our scheduled pit. It was really hard to swerve back out because we were scheduled to pit. From what I knew it was still green. NASCAR couldn’t decided if I was up front or in the back (for the restart). I can’t wait to see the replay.

            “It’s all right. We had a great weekend, two poles, a Busch win and we led a lot of laps today, I don’t know if we led the most laps. Road courses have been good to us this year. Maybe we can come back next year and get a win.

            “We were really digging hard to make up good ground. We ran a pace early with Tony to show him what kind of car we had and he backed off pace just because we were running that good. To go from first to 21st, that’s a rough one, but we’ll be back next week because we’ve got strong hearts and we definitely drove through some adversity yesterday to win.”

            And, perhaps Stewart said it best.

            “You know, you feel for Kurt today,” the two-time Cup champ said.   “He had one of the strongest cars for sure. He definitely had a car capable of winning the race.  That’s absolutely rotten luck and there’s nothing he or his team could have done about it.”

            Without further scoring adjustments, Busch left the track after moving up to 12th in the standings.  He trails 10th-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 172 points and is 118 behind 11th-place Kasey Kahne.

            With four races remaining to determine the Chase field, the NEXTEL Cup tour now heads back to the 2.0-mile Michigan International Speedway for next Sunday’s running of the GFS Marketplace 400.  That 400-mile, 200-lap battle has a scheduled 2:30 p.m. starting time and will feature live coverage by NBC-TV and MRN Radio.

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